One of every seven Minnesota drivers has a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol. The number who actually drive drunk, no doubt, is much higher. It’s unlikely they haven’t heard the warnings against drunk driving, but they drink and drive anyway.

Will something like this change their habits? A woman involved in a drunk driving crash that killed her two friends hopes so.

Desaleen James, 18, was the only survivor of a crash during a night of drinking in Silver Spring, Maryland. She filmed the crash and is trying to get people’s attention with it.

(Note: WUSA has since made the video, UNembeddable, which seems to betray their effort to help the young woman make a difference by publicizing it)

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts where he was VP of programming for Berkshire Broadcasting Co. He was an editor at the RKO Radio Network in New York, and WHDH Radio in Boston. He is the founder of the MPR News’ website. He is a private pilot and flies an airplane he built.

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We humans are a stupid lot. It takes us so long to learn anything. There are some of us who never do. Even after I learned at a young age to avoid drinking and driving there has been a few times throughout the years I slipped up and drove when I shouldn’t have. The core of the problem is that drinking impairs your judgement thus making it difficult to know when you have had to much.

Jim Shapiro

Being intoxicated cannot and should not be prohibited or punished.

Risking the lives of others while driving while intoxicated can and should be prohibited and punished.

While the first point is debatable, the second point is nearly impossible to argue against.

In the case of driving while intoxicated, prevention entails adequate punishment. Imprisonment, heavy fines, and mandatory therapy – including aversion techniques – are obvious solutions to the problem.

What is lacking is political will.

B. Ford

Shame on those who drink and drive.

If I drink too much wine, I spend the night.

Josh D.

Tie driving and jobs together and people will think a lot more about how much they’ve had to drink. Since I’ve got my Commercial Driver’s License and my job counts on on that license, I went from “I’m probably fine to drive” in my younger years, to “if I have a drop I’m not driving, PERIOD.” When your livelihood counts on driving, you’re drastically less likely to drive drunk. Its an idea anyway.

Jamie

Here’s something that might help to shock some people into paying full attention to their driving and not driving while intoxicated: